Category Archives: Announcements

The book grew out of a chance encounter with a treasured childhood memory. I was in a store in a coastal resort town in Maine one summer day and saw a book of Bert and I stories by Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan for sale. These stories, particularly in audio form, were a big part of my youth and represent, in my opinion, the pinnacle of Maine storytelling and Down East humor. Over the years, I lost track of my copies of the old stories and no longer had the tapes I used to listen to (or a tape player for that matter). I hadn’t thought about Bert and I for years and was delighted to come across these stories again. So, I made an impulse purchase and walked out of the store with the book and promptly devoured it.

I came away from this experience with two observations. First, that the Bert and I stories were funny and, at times, profound. The second observation was that I could see perspectives and currents of thought in the work of Dodge and Bryan that echoed ideas found in a wide variety of sources which I had encountered over the years, from the Mulla Nasrudin stories of the Islamic Sufi Idries Shah, to the traditional tales of the Mad Monk Ji Gong in Chinese literature, various Buddhist teaching stories I picked up from Alan Watts and other sources.

My hope is that Don’t Care None can be enjoyed on the same two levels on which it was written: by losing oneself in the time and place, in the cultural milieu in which it is set, but also by appreciating the larger philosophy that animates Uncle Oscar’s perspective.

I had an essay published today in the Winter Solstice issue of Eternal Haunted Summer called “Ertu Hagr? The Gilded Sow and Esoteric Symbolism in Hreiðar’s Tale” which breaks down the surprising layers of meaning at play in Hreiðar’s Tale. The phrase translates as “Are you skillful?” and is asked of the titular character, Hreiðar, by King Magnus the Good. The essay unpacks the different levels of meaning in the question and the resulting answer.

I am excited to announce that I have published a translation of Hreiðar’s Tale, a medieval Icelandic þattr (a short comedic tale) here on Anarcheologos.

The tale comes from Morkinskinna and tells the story of a “holy fool” character from Icelandic literature, Hreiðar Heimski, and his adventures in Norway as he becomes embroiled in a feud between King Magnús the Good and his uncle and co-ruler, King Harald Hardrada. The tale works on two levels in that it is a conventional story with comedic elements, but the (unknown) author also makes use of esoteric symbolism that adds a layer of meaning that is intriguing.

You can read the story here. Please let me know what you think in the comments.

I’m happy to announce that my short story “The Thin King” has been accepted for publication in the upcoming anthology Les Cabinets des Polythéistes: An Anthology of Pagan Fairy Tales, Fables, and Nursery Rhymes.

The anthology is being edited by Rebecca Buchanan and published by Bibliotheca Alexandrina, with an expected release in Winter 2016.

I’m happy to announce that I have a new poem entitled “Odin Wins the Mead of Poetry” in issue #36 of Mythic Circle. It tells the story of Odin’s infiltration of Suttung’s mountain lair and the deal he strikes with the giant’s daughter to gain the mead. As with my other narrative mythological poems, it is written in fornyrðislag meter.

Copies of Mythic Circle can be purchased from the journal’s website. Please check it out and buy a copy to support the publication.

About the Author

S.R. Hardy is the author of Don’t Care None, as well as various short stories, poems and translations. His work has appeared in venues such as Mythic Circle, Eunoia Review, Eternal Haunted Summer, Beorh Quarterly and anthologies such as The Shining Cities and Beyond the Pillars. He is currently at work on a variety of books, stories, poems, and translations.